With the world's biggest climate event, WWF's Earth Hour, the world goes dark again for a moment. Around the globe, we give Mother Earth a moment of respite from power surges and light pollution. We come together to respect our loved ones and nature. In the dim light of candles, we can also breathe, and feel that by turning off our electronic devices, the whole world sighs. For an hour.
This Earth Hour, I want to play a game of imagination. In the dark, I close my eyes and imagine: What if everything around me was made of hemp? What if bad hemp had always been good hemp? Let's think in black and white in the name of Earth Hour. Hemp knowledge was extinguished in the 20th century. What would a hemp world illuminated by knowledge have been like for us and the environment? Let's imagine!
Hemp that touches everything
I'm wearing a hemp shirt and jeans. The clothes I'm wearing weigh a little more, but they're so soft and breathable. Traditional Finnish linen fields have been preserved in the crop rotation, growing hemp for clothing is part of our cultural heritage. My shirt is from a long-established domestic hemp fabric producer. There are many hemp brands in Finland and local clothing design is flourishing. Soft hemp clothing is one of the major exports of Finnish design.
The house where I rent my apartment is made of hemp concrete, wood and hemp wool. Indoor air problems are rare and maintenance renovations are carried out using domestic raw materials. The availability and competition of fiber hemp have lowered prices and building your own house is an option worth considering even for young people. Healthy infrastructure and the possibilities of high-quality construction from domestic raw materials prevent emigration from the countryside and Lapland. Vibrant villages are within arm's reach. Inari has its own hospital.
Hemp fiber production is flourishing alongside the wood industry. Two strong raw materials, wood and hemp, and Finnish design have made Finland a pioneer in ecological housing. Forests and hemp fields are also considered valuable ecosystem services. The growing areas of both fibers serve as important carbon sinks. Finland's carbon footprint is close to neutral.
Everyday material
I look around in the dark. What all objects and products could be made from hemp fiber? What if plastic were replaced with hemp fiber? How would that affect the entire surrounding ecosystem? How many forests would have been saved if hemp had always been the main raw material for paper?
On the table is a bag of carrots, banana cake, a bag of chips, a couple of cans of beer, a jug of plant-based milk, foccacia and a bowl of mushroom salad. Hemp is used in everything. The carrots and chips are packaged in hemp plastic, which decomposes in even in half a year. Hemp seed flour and groats can be found in the banana cake and foccacia. Cannabis oil, CBD, has been used to flavor the beer. Plant milk is made from peeled hemp seeds by soaking and blending. The mushroom salad contains hemp protein and hemp seed oil.
Urgent need to pee. Damn. Well, let's continue the imaginative play by candlelight in the toilet. The first thing I reach for is toilet paper, made of hemp. Contents of the mirror cabinet: Makeup, sanitary pads, diapers, nail polish, soap, shampoo... All cosmetic products are hemp oil-based, including nail polish. Hemp oil is antibacterial and pampers the skin and hair with a special combination of omegas and vitamins A, E and C. Using hemp fiber in diapers and sanitary pads has saved landfills and waterways from a large amount of plastic waste.
A friend paints meticulous art at a table. The paints are hemp oil-based. Another friend says he bought a new surfboard, made of hemp fiber. The flight to the surf beaches is on a plane made of hemp fiber. Plant-based oils are widely used as fuel. Finnish biodiesel is made from hemp and rapeseed oil.
As you continue this game, your eyes start to roll. It's hard to say what couldn't be made from hemp! Hemp goes a long way. We can wear hemp even on sneakers. Both animals and humans get complete nutrition from hemp. Cosmetics, transportation, packaging and building materials can be made from hemp. Fiber chips can be used as mulch in the garden and as animal bedding in agriculture.
Worldwide, hemp is a fiber used as a raw material from cars to diapers. Using biodegradable hemp fiber and oil as the primary packaging material instead of petroleum-based plastic prevents ocean pollution and the spread of microplastics in our ecosystem.
It takes 500-1000 years to decompose, and in the ocean, plastic breaks down into tiny pieces when exposed to sunlight, toxic microplastics that cause health problems for humans and organisms. Using hemp plastic is not only a better option than oil-based plastic because of its biodegradability – while drilling for oil produces greenhouse gases, growing hemp acts as a carbon sink.
Hemp protects both me and the environment. How?
Hemp fiber protects against UV radiation and also reduces the effects of other radiation on the body. It is also able to absorb heavy metals and radioactive radiation from the soil through its root system.
Fiber production is one of the most important lines of the circular economy. Fiber hemp requires a lot of nitrogen as a growth input and effectively utilizes sludge and manure applied to fields, preventing nutrient leaching into waterways. It has been noted that the best places for hemp are the edges of fields, where it protects other crops from weather events, preserves the fungal root, mycorrhiza, that maintains the soil's nutrient network, and provides a protective zone for local fauna all year round.
Hemp is sown in the spring, grows during the summer and drops its leaves to the ground in the fall, providing the soil's microorganisms and microbes with the best nutrition. Hemp's large leaf mass binds a lot of carbon dioxide during photosynthesis and purifies the air. The strong roots penetrate deep into the ground, softening the soil's crumb structure, and absorbs heavy metals from the soil, thus making the soil safer for food plants.
Fiber hemp remains in the field over the winter. Finland's Arctic climate offers the most energy-efficient way to soak the fiber: winter. Autumn rains, winds and melting snow make the fibers soft and pliable, dissolving the green parts of the plant into the ground. In autumn, above-ground growth stops, but the root mass continues its work for the benefit of the climate. The fungal root, mycorrhiza, stores carbon dioxide and nutrients in the soil. In spring, when the ground is frozen, the hemp is harvested from the fields into bales and taken for further processing. New seed is sown on the stubble without turning the field.
In the imaginary reality, hemp, alongside trees, has elevated us to a sustainable economy and well-being. In my illusion, the natural elements that keep us alive shake hands with hemp. It protects from the sun, both as fiber and as shade. In the fields, hemp can create microclimates and protect other plants. As a building material, it offers a healthy and grounding place to live, sheltering from rain, radiation and wind.
Rapidly renewable fiber hemp fights climate change alongside forests and protects the greening of waterways. In fact, strips have been reserved for hemp between forests and roads to protect fields from pollution and clean the air in cities. Industry has produced hemp varieties that specialize in removing various environmental toxins from the soil. Fukushima and Chernobyl are now hemp cities!
The health benefits of hemp made available
Let's continue the imaginative play. Do I have any illnesses or self-treatments that hemp could be used for?
I have a cup of tea in my hand. My grandmother taught me since I was little that a cup of fennel flower tea removes shadows from the body. Folklore has turned into science for the benefit of the entire nation. The beneficial effects of hemp on the body and mind, among others, through anandamide are well known. Comprehensive stress management and natural prevention of diseases are the guiding principles of Finnish healthcare. Domestic cannabis varieties used as natural products and in medicine are well researched and grow under well-controlled conditions.
The cannabinoids that feed the endocannabinoid system of the human body balance the body's functions as needed. The mechanism that protects against diseases is well known, especially in the prevention and treatment of diabetes, epilepsy and rheumatism. Office workers who don't have much time for exercise in particular benefit from CBD cannabis oil as it activates the body's natural repair and regulation mechanism through cannabinoid receptors. Natural products serve people alongside medicine - preventing diseases.
We at Hempland are a special team of professionals from different fields who believe in reintroducing hemp into everyday life. It is difficult to find another plant that would serve people and the environment in such a diverse way. That is why we work sincerely and wholeheartedly towards the same goal that Earth Hour also represents: Towards a sustainable everyday life that respects life and the ecosystem in all its forms, towards health – internal and external.
To an ever better present and tomorrow!
Noora Peltola,
Agrologist university of applied sciences, natural product developer & permaculture designer
